Tolkien estate prepared to derail ‘The Hobbit’ over money

While pre-production forges ahead on the Guillermo Del Toro-directed adaptation of The Hobbit, the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien is focused on an October court date that could derail the two-part prequel to the hugely successful Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. His heirs want $220 million they say is due to them under a decades-old agreement for 7.5% of movie receipts.

Tolkien estate attorney Bonnie Eskenazi had this to say to Bloomberg: “Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release The Hobbit.”

This could result in the kind of media brinksmanship not seen since, oh, earlier this year.